There was never a question in Matthew Ewert's mind that he'd be a police officer. On July 20, about 1,000 miles away from Oak Park, where he made that decision, the reason for his career path was reaffirmed.

Rough plans for the new parking garage on the site, slated for completion sometime in 2013 with construction anticipated to begin this year, were presented to the village board on Monday and will be brought back Oct. 15 for final approval.

The newest library in Oak Park has a few features you can't find anywhere else. There's no membership card, no return policy, and best of all: no late fees. Heck, you don't even have to bring the book back.

John Hedges won't have to tell people who he is, but he's ready to convince Oak Parkers why he's ready to be the next village president. Following his announcement that he'll seek the nomination from the Village Manager Association for the April election, as reported in last week's Wednesday Journal, Hedges said he's equipped to add the title to his name.

Village President David Pope came back from Washington D.C. with two new decorations for village hall this week. Because of its successful implementation of the community electrical aggregation program that transferred Oak Park power to nearly 100 percent green sources, the village joined the ranks of a select few major metropolitan cities across the country adorned with similar recognition.

In terms of capital improvement projects in the 2013 budget, Oak Park will be keeping its belt as tight as possible. The term "salvage" has been a recurring theme throughout the budget-discussion process in finance committee meetings.